Originally published at National Catholic Register
(Acts 2:1-41; John 15:26-16:15)
Jesus ascended to send his Spirit on the Apostles. That happened 10 days after the Ascension, on Pentecost Sunday.
Compare the Apostles before and after the descent of the Holy Spirit. Back in the Garden of Gethsemane, faced with Jesus’s arrest, “all the disciples deserted him and fled” (Matthew 26:56). One was so eager to escape he ran off without his clothes to avoid arrest (Mark 14:51-52). Peter is busy telling folks: “Jesus? Never heard of him!” (See John 18:15-18, 25-27).
Today, those men, led by Peter, run … into the streets to start preaching. They speak in tongues. They are heard by people of 15 different ethnicities, “speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God” (Acts 2:11). Jesus had already promised these “mighty” works of the Paraclete: just reread what he said at the Last Supper, as recounted by John (15:26-16:15).
The Holy Spirit does “mighty” things. We already met that might on Good Friday, when the Temple veil is torn in two, tombs are opened, the dead are raised, and already the centurion confesses, “Surely this was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:51-54)
The Holy Spirit makes it possible to say
